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After retiring from the service in 2009 I was in Iraq working as a contractor. My job entailed traveling all over the country making sure specific things got done. Sounds like a lot but it really wasn’t. In the end of August of that year I was detailed up to Mosul. I traveled, worked out the issues and on the way back I was directed to go thru Balad to hitch a ride back to Baghdad. While waiting for the ride in the air terminal there was a Battalion of Army Support folks who was also traveling. Many of them were sick, cough and hacking up a lung. I tried to stay as far away from them as I could. My travel continued without them, but I was to live to regret it. A week later I came down with Swine Flu thanks to all the coughing and hacking Pogs back at the airport terminal.

I went to the Dr. on post and because I was retired military I was seen, he said that I was too immediately to go into quarantine. My barracks did not have individual bathrooms, so I was led to the truck by my buddy and driven the five miles to the other side of the base complex to Camp Liberty. I was sent down the road past the PX, on down to the right hand side past the Y (if you have been there you will understand) and almost to the end of the road, (two large campsites short) down by the Wreck yard where they brought all the destroyed vehicles. Then way back to almost the Eastern outside wall of the camp (I was one camp short of the wall). The camps were about twenty trailers long all surrounded by concrete T walls, you could drive between the rows. Then 10 of those rows wide made up a “camp” with a large space to drive semi-trucks between the “camps”. My “hut” was the one on the end. It connected to another living space thru a shared bathroom.

My buddy kicked me out of the truck and I walked between the T walls up to the door and opened it. The dust on the floor didn’t bother me at first, everything is dusty in Iraq. My buddy followed me in and we looked at the …dusty, dusty accommodations. I walked over and flipped the mattress over to a clean side and sat down. The room had a desk, a walk in closet and the shared bathroom. It also had an air conditioner that when turned on pumped out very cool sweet smelling air. It was then when I noticed the calendar hanging on the wall; July 2007, two years before.

My buddy told me he would go and pick up my poncho liner and laptop that was in my day pack so I could watch movies while I waited out my seven days of quarantine. He also told me he would bring me meals during the days I was staying. I thanked him and he left. It was mid afternoon and I was tired so laid down and tried to breath while resting; feeling sick as a dog. It was then in the quiet that I thought I heard someone talking outside. I could not catch the conversation, which bothered me some, as I could not hear if they were speaking English or Farsi. The hut door was locked and I went on thru the bathroom to see if the other hut door was locked which it was. I kept the lights off so no one would know that I was there and come looking.

When My Buddy came back I told him what happened. It was getting dark by then. He had brought my laptop, poncho liner, and in an afterthought he included a nice Tanto knife I traveled with as I was not supposed to have a firearm for some reason. He left and I curled up in my poncho liner and was soon fast asleep.

I woke later that night sleeping on my side facing the wall. It had grown quite dark in the room. Still facing the wall I could hear voices speaking quite softly but distinctly, “You ask him”…”no you ask him”. At this point I was wide awake and staring at the wall. Did I forget to lock the door? Who was in here with me? Something kicked the bed frame and I thought someone was just trying to figure out why I was sleeping in their room. So I rolled over and looked around, no one was in the room. I got up and checked the doors and under the bed, you could say I was somewhat shaken by the encounter so far.

After everything was checked including the closet (yeah I’m a big scardy cat retired Green Beret). I turned on the closet light but closed the door almost too, so I was in the shadows in the room and the room was lite so I could see. If someone was messing with me I was not going to take it. I was sick and feeling pretty crappy.

This time I wrapped up in the poncho liner facing the room. Things got quiet after a while so I drifted off to sleep. I was again awaken about an hour later by those same voices asking the same thing only this time a voice stated clearly “ I’ll ask him”. It was at this time I was laying on my back and something climbed up on the bed and sat on my feet like you would do during the sit up event for PT. Needless to say I was wide awake and “they” had my full attention. With a sharp intake of breath, what/whomever was sitting on my feet jumped off. I sat up and there was no one in the room that I could see. The smell in the room which was cool dusty turned into a sharp burned smell, I thought it was coming from the air conditioner and got up to check. While my back was turned I heard the voice say distinctly again “ask him”.

I told “them” in my best SGM voice to stand easy and I would be with them in a minute. I walked to the door and went outside leaving the door open. It was early morning around 0400hrs the sun was just starting to light up the sky. I sat down on the steps and waited for my buddy. At 0600 he showed up and looked at me strangely asking why I was out on the steps as he handed my breakfast to me. I told him we were leaving. He laughed and said no you have six more days of quarantine and to go back inside and relax. I told him “No I’m good”.

He found me sitting in the shade of the T wall for lunch, same for dinner. He was starting to wonder what was going on. I told him “I will tell you if you take me away from here”. He just laughed as he drove away. That night the same things happened again and more.

The next day I was sitting on the steps when four of soldiers carried a Private by the legs and arms into the room next to mine, and flung him on the bed. They dropped a box of MRE’s and a 12 pack of water and laughing said “Later Loser”. I stayed outside till around 2300hrs then went in and prepped for the nightly activities.

The following morning around 0500hrs I was out sitting on the steps, when the door to the other hut burst open and a very scared Private ran out. He looked left and then right breathing pretty hard like he had just run a marathon. I smiled at him and said “Hows it goin”? He sat down and tried to light a cigarette. His hands were shaking so bad he could not light the match and gave up after a few seconds. I could tell he was pretty shaken by something.

He looked right at me and said, “Did you……”

I said “You met them too I see”, and he calmed down a little.

I said “I don’t think they are going to do you any harm, but it is a little unsettling”.

He said “Yeah I’m leaving, they can’t make me stay here”. I laughed and said I have four more days and could use the company. His mind was made up and when it got light he went in and packed up all his stuff and left.

My buddy was true to his word and each day he brought breakfast, lunch and dinner like clockwork; each time finding me sitting on the steps or in the shade with the door open waiting.

Finally on the last day he came by for lunch and said “time to leave so we can go get pizza”! I had all my stuff packed and shut the door then jumped in the truck. He then asked,” now are you going to tell me what’s going on” I told him not till we were away from that place.

We drove over to the billeting office to give the key back. We went inside and had to wait as a tall muscular black Army CW4 was chewing out one of his Soldiers. He was not in a good mood. When he was done I walked up and introduced myself as the guy staying in the Quarantine Hut. He asked if there were any problems as he reached for the key. I looked him in the eye and as he grabbed the key I hung on, saying ”Chief you need to cut that key and the key to the other side of that hut in half and never issue it to anyone ever again. He was not amused, asking if anything was wrong with the hut. I told him “Chief just go spend one night there and you will understand why I am telling you to cut those keys up. He got pissed and took the keys. I left with my buddy looking at me like I had lost my mind.

At Pizza an hour later I told my buddy what had happened that whole week, leaving nothing out. He thought I was full of crap.

A week later I was walking thru the PX at Camp Liberty, looking at all the pawed over items thinking if I could use another T shirt with a slogan on it or a new 501 shirt with my buddy in tow, when down the aisle I see the Chief running at me. He grabs my arm and says he cut the keys in half and no one under any circumstance will stay in those huts ever again. This shocked and surprised my buddy. The Chief said he was pissed at me when I turned in the key thinking I had trashed the place and went over to check it out. It was getting dusk when he went. He found the rooms’ neat and tidy, but also found “them” and they wanted to talk with him.

I later learned that the camp was handed over to the Iraqi Army; I always wondered who got those rooms and just how that went for them.

IN SUMMARY: I think it was a unique experience. I think that there were approximately seven to ten distinct “individual” entities present at any given time during my stay. They did not follow me outside, nor did they follow me into the bathroom, which I thought was nice of them. They did go from room to room where people were staying. When they made their selves known, it was usually during the late evening to morning, usually gone before the sun was up. I felt that I could not help them but did tell them that they were quite possibly dead and that they needed to “move on”. I did not get any names from any of them; it just seemed that it was not important to them to tell me. It was more of a can you see me and do I exist type experience.

I have thought on this many times and have told a few people. Most think it was made up by me being sick. I don’t think so, usually when I’m sick I dream about fly fishing in cool mountain streams. The Private and the Chief were also involved and I did not know either before I was sent into quarantine.